Learning · 12 recordsRead more books

Reading more is almost entirely about two habits: a fixed slot, and putting down anything you are not enjoying. The second is the one people resist, and it is the reason a stalled book turns into six months of reading nothing.

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Goal

Read consistently for a year Month 12

Derived from a slot I actually have, not an aspirational number.

Build the slot Week 4

A fixed time. Everything else follows from it.

  • Pick the time of day and defend itDo firstDay 3
  • Work out what that slot is worth in books a yearDo firstDay 7
  • Put the phone somewhere else during itWeek 3

Keep the queue full Month 12

So finishing one book is not a decision.

  • Write a list of ten worth reading nextDo firstWeek 2
  • Abandon the first book I am not enjoyingMonth 2
  • Review the year and set next year's numberMonth 12

Routines

  • Read for 20 minutesdaily
  • Add something to the listweekly
✦ It comes with a note

Put down anything you are not enjoying

This is the habit that matters most and the one people resist. A book you are avoiding does not just go unread — it stops you starting the next one, which is how one stalled book becomes half a year of reading nothing.\n\nThe gap between books is where the habit breaks. Having the next one already chosen removes the moment where something else fills the slot.

Questions

Read more books, answered.

Work backwards from a slot rather than picking a number. Twenty minutes a day is roughly a book a fortnight for most readers, and a target derived from time you actually have survives a bad month in a way an aspirational number does not.
No, and this is the habit that matters most. A book you are avoiding does not just go unread — it stops you starting the next one, which is how one unfinished book becomes half a year of reading nothing at all.
So finishing one book does not become a decision. The gap between books is where the habit breaks, and having the next one already chosen removes the moment at which something else fills the slot.
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